Habeas Corpus Rights: Japan

The Constitution of Japan, which was drafted by Americans when Japan was under the Allied Occupation from 1945 to 1952,[1] was strongly influenced by the United States Constitution. Article 34 of the Constitution has a provision, which relates to habeas corpus. Article 34 reads: No person shall … be detained without adequate cause; and upon demand of any person such cause must be immediately shown in open court in his presence and the presence of his counsel.[2] The Habeas Corpus Act was enacted in 1948 during the Occupation. The purpose of the Act is “to enable the people to recover the liberty of a person actually unlawfully deprived of liberty in a prompt and easy manner through a judicial procedure.”[3] Further, “[a]ny person whose personal liberty is under restraint without due process of law may apply for relief pursuant to the provisions of this act.”[4]

The United Nations Human Rights Committee criticized Japan because the effectiveness of the remedy for challenging the legality of detention is impaired by the Habeas Corpus Rules.[5] The Habeas Corpus Rules, which provide rules to implement the Act, “limits the grounds for obtaining a writ of habeas corpus to (a) the absence of a legal right to place a person in custody, and (b) manifest violation of due process. It also requires exhaustion of all other remedies.”[6]